


Nightmares

by poorrichardslegacy



Series: Kacxa Week 2020 (Galra Chronicles AU) [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Kacxa Week 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 21:53:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,807
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26874736
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/poorrichardslegacy/pseuds/poorrichardslegacy
Summary: Ten-year-old Acxa and nine-year old Keith both suffer recurring nightmares in their respective orphanages…about each other.
Relationships: Acxa/Keith (Voltron)
Series: Kacxa Week 2020 (Galra Chronicles AU) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1959658
Kudos: 4





	Nightmares

**Author's Note:**

> This is my entry for Day 4 of Kacxa Week 2020

** Acxa **

The nightmare is back, for the third night in a row.

Acxa has somehow managed to fly her ship into the belly of a gigantic space beast. How she got there, and how long she has been there, she has no clue.

Her right arm and right leg are injured, and she is bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Outside, strange amoeba-like creatures attack her ship, slowly dissolving it. Vine-like fibers are wrapped around the vessel, slowly crushing it.

A chill runs down her spine. She sees no way out. Is this how she is supposed to die? Alone inside the belly of a beast?

\---------------

She awakens in a cold sweat, sitting up in bed, thrashing about and looking around frantically to get her bearings.

“Hey…Acxa…it’s me. Did you have that nightmare again?”

Hearing a familiar voice, ten-year-old Acxa Combari begins to settle down. She is in the sleeping quarters of the orphanage on Corillia, where she has been since the death of her mother. The comforting voice belongs to her best friend, Ezor Corderian

“Breathe slowly. You’re turning purple. Trust me girl, purple is not your color. Here…drink this.”

The warm milk has the desired effect, and she begins to calm down.

Awakened by Acxa’s thrashing and Ezor’s efforts to calm her down, one of the orphans closest to the pair begins to complain about the noise. Ezor, cranky herself from being awakened from a sound sleep, nevertheless sticks up for her best friend.

“Keep it up hotshot and I’ll give you something to really complain about. Now be quiet and go back to sleep.”

Ezor turns back to her friend, rubbing her back to calm her down. “You want to tell me about it?

\---------------

** Keith **

Keith finds himself alone in a strange environment, being attacked by amoeba-like creatures. Nearby, a lake of what appears to be acid sits just below the escarpment on which he stands. Realizing the creatures are trying to kill him, he does the only thing he can think of – he dives headfirst into the acid.

Protected for the moment by his suit, Keith manages to swim down a dimly-lit tunnel.

Breaking through the barrier at the end of the tunnel, out of the flow of the acid, he finds himself dropping into an abyss. His fall is broken when he lands on a solid object covered in vines.

Gathering his wits, he studies his landing perch carefully and realizes he is standing on the nose of a fighter. Gazing into the cockpit, he sees movement and realizes someone is in there. Someone very much alive.

On the left shoulder of their uniform they bear an insignia he has never seen before.

\---------------

Nine-year-old Keith Kogane sits up with a start. Sweating profusely, he looks around and realizes he is in the orphanage just outside Platte City.

That nightmare again. The one that keeps repeating itself. For four nights in a row now.

What does it all mean?

\---------------

** Acxa **

After a night of peaceful sleep, mostly due to exhaustion, the dream comes back with a vengeance the following night.

This time there is a twist.

Stuck in her crashed fighter, she hears a thud coming from the front of her craft, as if someone…or something…just landed on it. Outside she hears and feels moment as whatever is on the nose of her fighter approaches the cockpit.

Looking up, she sees a stranger staring back at her. He is of a race she has never seen before. Wearing white armor with red and black trim, she can tell he is tall, and of a muscular build. Through the cockpit glass of her fighter and the face shield of his helmet, she gets a good look at his face

His eyes are a deep indigo, and his hair is black. A big lock of his hair hangs down in front of his face. This stranger is handsome, in a roguish sort of way.

He says something to her, but she is cannot make it out. Without warning, he shatters the cockpit glass and reaches a hand in to help her out. As she takes his hand, she awakens from her dream

This time she does not cry out. She does not hyperventilate. This time, she is remarkably calm

She settles down to sleep, and the dream never returns.

\---------------

** Ten Years Later **

Squeezing his way through the mucous plug at the end of the passageway, Keith finds himself in what he believes is the second stomach of the Weblum. Using his jetpack to break his fall, he notices a strange shape over to his right.

“No way!”

He jetpacks over and lands with a thud on the nose of what turns out to be a fighter. He cannot make out who it belongs to because of the stomach fibers covering it. Gazing inside the cockpit he spots the pilot…and realizes to his great surprise that they are still alive.

\---------------

Acxa cannot believe her eyes. Standing on the nose cone of her fighter is a male of a race she has never seen before. She thinks about lifting the shield covering her face so that she can communicate with him but thinks better of it. Best to be safe and figure out who he is first. For the moment she will remain anonymous and silent.

Through the cockpit glass of her fighter she clearly hears a firm masculine voice calling out to her. “Don’t move. I’m here to help.”

From a device she has never seen before appears a Galra broadsword. She exhales in disappointment. If he thinks he is going to cut through diamond-hard cockpit glass with that…

With a mighty effort, the stranger slices open the cockpit glass as if it were paper. She sits there in shock at how effortlessly he destroyed the canopy. She snaps out of her daze when he silently extends a hand to help her out of the cockpit.

She has no idea who he is, but it is a hand she is more than willing to take.

\---------------

Sometime later, after a brief misunderstanding that involved her running over him and taking her weapon back, Acxa and the stranger find themselves in the third stomach of the Weblum. Despite acknowledging that he is an enemy combatant fighting against the Galra, he nevertheless protected Acxa when they were attacked by stomach creatures. Realizing he is someone who shares her belief that all life is precious, she gladly returned the favor and protected him when the opportunity called for it.

Acxa now stands just in front of him and looks around. The third stomach was her objective, but she sees no evidence of the scaultrite she is there to collect.

While wondering what she is to do, they are joined by a third person. They are obviously a companion of her rescuer, but unlike her roguish companion the newcomer’s uniform is accented in yellow and black.

\---------------

“Keith! Keith! You made it! We both made it!” Seeing the Galra pilot standing in front of them, Hunk turns to him with a quizzical look. “Who is this?”

“I don’t know. Someone I found. He doesn’t talk much. Also, he’s Galra.”

“What, do you guys all know each other?” Hunk whispers to Keith so as not to be overheard. “Do you really think we should be rescuing a Galra soldier right now?”

“We’re Paladins of Voltron. We can’t just leave people to die, even if they are Galra. Now come on. Let’s get what we came for and get out.”

\---------------

Hearing the name of her mysterious rescuer, Acxa freezes in place as her eyes fly wide open. She flashes back to the nightmares she had in the orphanage ten years earlier.

That name. Those eyes. That hair!

She closes her eyes and thinks to herself, “It…it can’t be him.”

She slowly looks over her left shoulder, pretending to be looking about the stomach, but really turning to get a good look at her rescuer. A wry smile crosses her face as she continues the mental dialog with herself.

“So, you’re Keith. The Red Paladin of Voltron. Hmm…you’re cuter than the Galra Information Ministry makes you out to be. And it seems you are here for the same thing I am.”

Acxa faces forward and, pushing all other thoughts out of her mind, focuses on the mission at hand.

She needs to find some Scaultrite, or Lotor will not be happy.

\---------------

Leaving the Weblum behind, Acxa makes for the rendezvous point where she is picked up by a Galra cruiser.

“Are you ok, General?”

“I’m fine. Get word to Prince Lotor that the mission was a success.”

“Vrepit Sa!”

\---------------

The scaultrite loaded on board the Yellow Lion, Keith makes his way to the cockpit.

“So…where’s your buddy?”

Keith crosses his arms and looks down at the floor as he leans against the wall of the cockpit. “Long gone by now. He drew his pistol on me and stole a bag of scaultrite.”

Hunk decides it is time he clues his friend in on something that he is obviously missing.

“Keith, buddy, I hate to break it to you. But that Galra who was with us…is a she, not a he.”

“What? What do you mean?”

“Well, I think I means that you’re blind if you can’t tell the difference between a man and a woman.”

Keith sighs and looks up at the ceiling of the cockpit in frustration. “That’s just…great. So, I’m blind _and_ stupid.”

“No, not stupid. Blind maybe. I mean, have you ever been on a date with a woman? Maybe that’s why you can’t tell the diff…”

Keith gives Hunk what can best be described as a death glare.

“Ok, I’ll take that as a no. Moving on…”

\---------------

Acxa looks out into space and sees a faint contrail moving away from the Weblum. She knows it is one of the Voltron Lions, carrying Keith back to his home base.

She sits there, wracked by a pang of guilt she never expected to feel. She built trust with him. They protected each other and had each other’s back. And in the end, she figurative stabbed him in the back, drawing her pistol on him and stealing a large bag of the scaultrite.

That act of betrayal now haunts her.

She speaks softly as she watches the Yellow Lion fade into the darkness of space. “I don’t know anything about you, Red Paladin of Voltron. I don’t expect you to understand why I betrayed you. I hope you know I never intended to pull the trigger. Not after the way you protected me. I owe you that much.”

“Someday…maybe…I’ll have a chance to explain my actions and tell you I’m sorry. For now, be safe Keith.”

“Until we meet again.”

**Author's Note:**

> This story is set within the AU of The Galra Chronicles. It builds on a brief scene in Chapter 3 of the Marmoran Generals in which Acxa relates to Zethrid the dream her ten-year-old self had about meeting Keith.


End file.
